With less than two weeks remaining for parliamentary elections set for July 27, the campaign headquarters of nearly 400 registered candidates are still deserted by voters while it was noticed that a notable number of candidates decided against setting up a main center for their campaigns. In this regard, observers said that the unusual lack of voter interest is most likely connected to the fact that this year’s elections are held during the summer and coincide with Ramadan, noting that people are mostly busy with visits that are likely to go on until the tenth day of the holy month.

RIYADH: The $12 billion in aid Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait offered Egypt this week showed their delight at the army’s ousting of President Mohamed Morsi in a reversal for Islamists empowered by the Arab ferment of 2011. It also marked a recalibration of power among Gulf Arab states which, with the notable exception of Qatar, had viewed the Arab uprisings as catastrophic for regional stability and feared the Muslim Brotherhood would use its domination of Egypt to push a radical, Islamist agenda in their own backyard.

The Interior Ministry announced yesterday that it has referred three tribal primary election cases to the public prosecution for investigation and plans to send the fourth today. The ministry said in a statement that two cases took place in the Fourth Constituency and the third in the Fifth District while the fourth one to be made today is in the Fifth Constituency.

The Kuwaiti opposition has reiterated its position of boycotting the July 27 election, saying that the single-vote law, which was confirmed by the Constitutional Court last month, has undermined the constitution and aggravated divisions in the society. Speakers at a gathering late Sunday night also called for deeper democratic reforms including a number of constitutional amendments to strengthen democracy in the country.

Despite governmental promises to tackle irregularities ahead of parliamentary elections set for June 27, several dailies reported yesterday that primaries as well as vote buying activities are taking place in all constituencies. Al-Jarida daily reported that a vote’s price this year ranges between KD 1,000 to KD 2,000 “after the single-vote system cut the ‘supply’ and increased demand”, according to sources with knowledge of the issue.

The administrative court yesterday set July 14 as the date to issue its ruling on a petition demanding that the July 27 election should be suspended because the current Cabinet is illegal. Lawyer Adel Abdulhadi, who filed the petition last week, argued in the court yesterday that the government’s composition is not in line with the constitution which requires that at least one of its members must be an elected MP.

President Moncef Marzouki has decided to extend the state of emergency to three months as of July 3, the Presidency of the Republic announced on Monday.

The decision came after the proposal of military and security officials and after consultations with Prime Minister Ali Larayedh and National Constituent Assembly (NCA) President Mustapha Ben Jaafar, the same source added.

In another connection, the Presidency reported the improvement of the security situation in the country thanks to the efforts and sacrifices made by the national army and security forces.

Two former MPs, Jamal Al-Omar and Mohammad Al-Huwailah, were among 47 new candidates who registered to run in the July 27 election, raising the total number of hopefuls to 339 with just two days more for registrations. Mishari Mohammad Al-Anjari however became the first candidate to withdraw from the race yesterday. Pulling out of the race is open until 10 days before the actual election day. Registration closes tomorrow.

The Muslim Brotherhood refuses to cooperate and acknowledge the “usurped” government appointed after the overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi, its Supreme Guide Mohammed Badei said on Friday.

Despite of an arrest warrant issued against him on Thursday, Badei gave a speech at the pro-Morsi sit-in at Raba’a Al-Adaweya at 6:30pm. Security reports had initially indicated that he was detained following the overthrow of Morsi, but the Brotherhood denied his arrest.